The Town of Barrhead and Barrhead County councils gave residents an early Christmas present, a new Aquatic Centre.
On Wednesday, Dec. 10 at a special joint council meeting, the two councils came to a tentative agreement on a new pool building.
The agreement will see both the town and the county contribute to the building costs of a new scaled down version of the aquatic centre.
In late November, the town asked BR2, the architectural firm that was tasked to come up with the original concept drawing for the proposed pool, to present to town council potential plans for a scaled down version of the pool facility.
BR2 came up with four options from the original 2,510 square metre facility that include such amenities as a six-lane, 25-metre competition pool with a one-metre diving platform, a zero entry teaching or leisure pool complete with a simulated lazy river and a 25 person capacity hot-tub to three scaled down versions.
All the scaled down versions of the pool included all the main aquatic features, the six lane competition pool, the leisure pool with the lazy river feature and a 25 person hot-tub, with the difference being the size of most of the features.
Most of the scaled down versions included a shorter lazy river feature for the leisure pool, smaller deck and viewing areas along with smaller change rooms, etc.
The price varied from a high of $15 million to just over $12 million depending on the scaled down version. The agreement signed by the two councils was for a scaled down version of the original drawings at a cost of $12,752,756. The agreement would also see the Town of Barrhead taking on the responsibility of paying for 100 per cent of the facility’s operating costs, with the county chipping in what it can.
Mayor Gerry St. Pierre said to come to an agreement with the county both sides had to compromise and the new pool will not include everything the community needs.
Why is that? Residents should be asking both councils if the recently agreed upon aquatic centre is too elaborate and costly for the town.
For years, the Barrhead aquatic centre managed to serve the needs of area residents. So why now do the residents of the town and county need such an elaborate facility?
Instead of a facility with a leisure pool and a lazy river area, residents should be asking their prospective councils for a pool that is more comparable to the one they lost.
Especially considering the current financial climate. The provincial government is in the process of reconsidering many of the capital expenditures it has already approved. Many of the provincial grants municipalities have come to rely on may dry up as the province grapples with reduced oil revenues.
